DANCE · SPRING PREVIEW
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BALLET DIPLOMACY
A high point of the season is the Royal Dan-
ish Ballet's much anticipated visit to New York
City. The troupe will show several of its cher-
ished Bournonville dances. The must-see is the
1836 "La Sylphide," one of the oldest extant
ballets (David H. Koch, June 14-19). + Amer-
ican Ballet Theatre often brings in high-profile
guest artists-a practice hated by its in-house
stars and loved by its box office. This season,
the Eastern European ballerinas Diana Vish-
neva, Alina Cojocaru, Natalia Osipova, and
Polina Semionova do stopovers. (Metropolitan
Opera House, May 16-July 9). + They will be
followed at the Met by St. Petersburg's Mari-
insky (Kirov) Ballet, which is presenting two
evening-length works-"Anna Karenina" and
"The Little Humpbacked Horse" -choreo-
graphed by the excellent Alexei Ratmansky
(July 11-16).
JOYCEANS
The Joyce Theatre offers a star lineup. This
month, the Merce Cunningham Dance Com-
pany presents the sombre and beautiful "Quar-
tet" (1986), which Cunningham made for him-
self and four other dancers. In the title, he left
out one, presumably himself. He was soon to
retire, a grief for any great dancer (March 22-
27). The company itself will fold on New Year's
Eve, after what will no doubt be a well-
attended valedictory performance at the Park
Avenue Armory. + Armitage Gone! offers four
works by the so-called Princess of Punk. Go to
Program A, which includes her landmark "Dras-
tic Classicism" and a new piece on which she
collaborated with the Dance Theatre of Har-
lem (April 26-May 8). + And the bebopper Sa-
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vion Glover, possibly the most skilled tap dancer
who ever lived, returns for a three-week sea-
son (June 21-July 9).
NO BORDERS
Various venues and organizations, from both
New York and Cuba, have joined forces to
present the season-long iSí Cuba! Festival, a
celebration of Cuban arts and culture. High-
lights of the many performances, lectures, and
workshops include the conservative but satis-
fyingly show-'em-who's-boss Ballet Nacional
de Cuba (BAM's Howard Gilman Opera House,
June 8-11); Danza Contemporánea de Cuba,
a modern-dance company (Joyce, May 10-22);
and Los Muñequitos de Matanzas (Peter J.
Sharp, May 5-7), the island's beloved rumba
company. The last two troupes, in different
ways, combine Cuba's African and Spanish
legacies. + Susan Marshall & Company per-
forms "Frame Dances," a nice brainy piece for
hemmed-in dancers (Baryshnikov Arts Center,
June 9-11).
TURNING FORTY
The revered Japanese minimalists Eiko & Koma
have created "Naked"-in which, however,
some clothes will be worn-to mark their for-
tieth anniversary. The piece is six hours long,
but spectators may come and go as they please
(Baryshnikov Arts Center, March 29- April
9). + Also celebrating its longevity is the Trisha
Brown Dance Company, at the High Line. In
"Roof Piece," first performed in 1971, a dozen
or so dancers signal to each other across great
spaces. Originally, they stood atop buildings in
SoHo; now they will perform next to the lovely
riverside walkway (early June). Admission to
both events is free.
relli, Jr. (who is also her husband), teams up with
the pianist, vocalist, and composer Dave Frishberg,
the man behind the timeless "Peel Me a Grape"
and "My Attorney Bernie."
B. B. KING BLUES CLUB & GRILL
237 W. 42nd St. (212-997-4144)-March 25:
Stanley Clarke, a bass icon on both electric and
acoustic instruments who cemented his sturdy
reputation in the seventies, meets up with Victor
Wooten, a present-day electric-bass innovator best
known for his work with Béla Fleck's Flecktones
band.
BIRDLAND
315 W. 44th St. (212-581-3080)-March 22-26:
"Sophisticated Ladies," newly released in Amer-
ica, finds the bassist Charlie Haden and his now
quarter-century-old Quartet West band sharing
space with such A-list female singers as Diana
Krall, Renée Fleming, Norah Jones, and Cassan-
dra Wilson. While not confirmed, all are expected
at this celebratory engagement.
BLUE NOTE
131 W. 3rd St. (212-475-8592)-March 25-
27: The reed-heavy Odean Pope Saxophone
Choir will find additional muscle with a special
guest, James Carter, a saxophonist of heroic
dimensions.
28 THE NEW YORKER, MARCH 28, 2011
DIZZY.S CLUB COCA-COLA
33 W. 60th St. (212-258-9595)-March 22-27:
The Bill Charlap trio, the premier mainstream
piano trio, features the acclaimed leader, the bass-
ist Peter Washington, and the drummer Kenny
Washington.
FEINSTEIN.S AT LOEWS REGENCY
540 Park Ave., at 61st St. (212-339-4095)-
March 22: Nellie McI(ay, who has outsized pi-
anistic, vocal, composing, and interpretive tal-
ents, starts a two-week stand. Expect her to mix
standards with original compositions, including
songs from her last two records, "Normal as
Blueberry Pie" (inspired by the music of Doris
Day) and the charmingly eclectic "Home Sweet
Mobile Home."
JAZZ GALLERY
290 Hudson St., near Spring St. (212-242-1063)-
March 25-26: Based in Brooklyn and revelling in
his Spanish origins, the bassist and composer Alexis
Cuadrado presents his "Noneto Ibérico," an am-
bitious multi-movement work that blends jazz and
flamenco material. He has a new recording of the
same name, and his ensemble here includes the
trumpeter Taylor Haskins, the guitarist Brad She-
pik, and the saxophonists Loren Stillman and Jon
Gordon.
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JAZZ STANDARD
116 E. 27th St. (212-576-2232)-March 29-30:
Somi, an East African singer and world-music lu-
minary, leads a supporting quartet that includes
the guitarist Liberty Ellman, for a projected live
recording.
SMALLS
183 W. 10th St. (No phone)-March 24: The
swing and stride pianist Ehud Asherie performs
solo, as on his exemplary 2010 release, "Welcome
to New York."
SMOKE
2751 Broadway, between 105th and 106th Sts.
(212-864-6662)-Sundays: Prime Directive. The
tenor saxophonist Wayne Escoffery, a high-profile
member of the Mingus Big Band and the Tom
Harrell quintet, joins the trombonist Frank Lacy
and the singer Miles Griffith on the front line of
this sextet.
VILLAGE VANGUARD
178 Seventh Ave. S., at 11th St. (212-255-4037)-
March 22-27: Dave Douglas's Brass Ecstasyensem-
ble stays true to its name. The daring trumpeter-
leader is surrounded by French horn, trombone,
and tuba.
ART
MUSEUMS AND LIBRARIES
METROPOLITAN MUSEUM
Fifth Ave. at 82nd St. (212-535-7710)-"Cézanne's
Card Players." The show centers on pictures of
male peasants playing cards and smoking pipes,
made during the eighteen-nineties, at the Cézanne
family estate in Provence. The artist's only major
series of figurative images before the late "Bath-
ers" (without which Picasso's "Les Demoiselles
d' Avignon" would be inconceivable), it is basic to
his eminence as the single greatest preceptor of
modern art and, in general, an apostle of prog-
ress. Cézanne's stroke-by-stroke reassembly of the
visible world didn't just inspire Cubism and lead
to abstract art; it stood for a tough-minded re-
tooling of conventions in any creative field. The
greatness of Cézanne's art is undeniable, but it
can be dauntingly saturnine, with a medicinal af-
tertaste, despite fugitive beauties of touch and
color, which still surprise. Through May 8. + "Gui-
tar Heroes: Legendary Craftsmen from Italy to
New York." Through July 4. + "The Emperor's
Private Paradise: Treasures from the Forbidden
City." Through May 1. + "Stieglitz, Steichen,
Strand." Through April 10. + "The Andean Tunic,
400 B.C.E.-1800 C.E." Through Sept. 18. + "Re-
configuring an African Icon: Odes to the Mask
by Modem and Contemporary Artists from Three
Continents." Through Aug. 21. (Open Tuesdays
through Sundays, 9:30 to 5:30, and Friday and
Saturday evenings until 9.)
MUSEUM OF MODERN ART
11 W. 53rd St. (212-708-9400)-"Abstract Ex-
pressionist New York." Through April 25. + "Stag-
ing Action: Performance in Photography Since
1960." Through May 9. + "Picasso: Guitars 1912-
1914." Through June 6. + "Looking at Music
3.0." Through June 6. + "Standard Deviations:
Types and Families in Contemporary Design."
Through Jan. 30. + "German Expressionism: The
Graphic Impulse." Opens March 27. + "I Am Still
Alive: Politics and Everyday Life in Contempo-
rary Drawing." Opens March 23. + "Impressions
from South Mrica, 1965 to Now." Opens March
23. (Open Wednesdays through Mondays, 10:30
to 5:30, and Friday evenings until 8.)
MOMA PSl
22-25 Jackson Ave., Queens (718-784-2084)-"The
Talent Show." Through Oct. 4. + "Feng Mengbo,
Long March: Restart." Through April 4. + "Sergei
Jensen." Through May 2. + "Laurel Nakadate:
Only the Lonely." The artist's early videos were
genuinely provocative: a young woman playing
both predator and prey to a series of desperate-
seeming men whom she invited to join her in, say,
a game of strip poker. But, as this early-mid-career
survey (Nakadate is just thirty-five) of eighteen 8
works makes disconcertingly clear, such empathy